Table ball game apparatus



Sept. 7, 1954 D. M. GARBER TABLE BALL GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 6, 1951l N VENT OR 004/ 444277 Gaease ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 7, 1 954 UNITEDSTATES" PATENT OFFICE.

1 1 2,688,484 I I TABLE BALL GAME APPARATUS Don Martin Garber, HanoverCounty, Va. Application January 6, 1951, Serial No. 2043730 1 Claim. itThis invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a game device,and more particularly to games and devices upon which. they are playedin connection with a ball, field and impelling means.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of an enclosedgame board adapted to accommodate a barrier or an apertured bar so thata variety of games may be played; depending upon whether the bar orbarrier is used. Another object of this invention is the provision of anenclosed game board provided with means for accommodating a barrier orapertured bar over or through which a ball may respectively pass.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an enclosed gameboard provided with a barrier or apertured bar over or through which aball may be impelled by a mallet or bat.

Other objects and features will more fully appear from the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of the invention;

Fig. 2 a sectional elevational view or the bat; and i Fig. 3 is asectional view taken along lines 33 of Fig. l and showing a modifiedboard.

Referring to the drawings the invention consists of a game board Icomposed of a rectangular base 2. To each of the longer sides or edgesof said base are respectively secured sides 3-4 which project upwardlyfrom the base. To each end of said base are respectively secured stops56-; said sides and end stops enclosing the top surface of the board toform a playing field and prevent the ball from rolling off the latter.The board may be provided with legs I so that it may properly supportsaid board upon a base or floor, or the legs may be removed in orderthat the board may be disposed upon any suitable support such as atable.

In each of the sides 34 are disposed grooves or slots 8-9 opposed to andin alignment with each other. The grooves are respectively adapted toaccommodate one of the ends of a barrier Ill or modified barrier II, thelatter being provided with a plurality of apertures. A mallet or batlikemember [2 consists of a handle l3; one end or which is attached to ahead l4 at a forty-five degree angle. The basal portion of the head isalso struck at a similar angle. A ball I5 is adapted to be used as anelement in the playing of a game and the mallet when striking the ballis generally pushed upon the board. The ball is directionally impelledby the mallet by varying the angle formed by the head and the base itcontacts.

If the ball is desired to be impelled upwardly and over the barrier(Fig. l) the angle between the head and base is decreased; the greaterthe decrease of such angle the greater the altitude the ball will rise,and vice versa.

For purposes of illustration, two games will be illustrated, althoughapplicants device may provide a number of games. As shown in Fig, l, the

barrier In is placed in the slots and a player stands at each end of thedevice with a mallet in his hand and its head contacting the base. Theobject of each player is to use this mallet to knock the ball over thebarrier to the other player, who in turn knocks it back to his opponent.The first one failing to knock the ball over the barrier is the loser.Of course, the board may be marked off like a tennis court and the gameplayed in similar fashion to the game of tennis.

The game may also be played by merely utilizin half of the fieldincluding the barrier or bar with a suitable backstop.

Another type game may be played by placin the apertured bar in theslots. It will be noted that the various orifices in the bar are ofdifferent diameters. Each orifice may be given a number. Thus, a largeorifice may be legended 1 and a small one numbered 5 since it is morediilicult to knock a ball through a small aperture than a large one.Also, the apertures in the edges of the bar are adapted to be of varioussizes and placedupon the surface of the board to form gates. It isthought obvious that a player at one end that knocks the ball through alarge orifice will get a smaller score than the player at the other endwho plays the ball through a smaller orifice. It is also thought obviousthat instead of using numerals for the various holes they may belegended so as to provide baseball, football, bas- .ketball or any gamewithin the limits of this invention. For instance, the holes may belegended strikes, balls, hits, etc. for baseball; while football maycarry such legends as touchdown, first down, pass for first down, etc.

While the invention may be constructed of any suitable material it hasbeen found that a marble is best adapted for the ball and the board maybe made of wood or any composite material. The mallet is usually of woodbut its head may be improvised of any resilient surface.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the device may be utilized toprovide a number of different games by providing various types ofapertured bars.

Having described this invention, what is claimed is:

In a table ball game device, comprising an enclosed base and a barrierdisposed in transverse position upon and across said base, an impellingmallet or bat provided with a rectangular shaped head having an extendedoblique edge at the lower side thereof adapted for engagement with saidbase, together with a handle attached to the rear face of said headvand. extending rearwardly, in a parallel plane to the plane of theunderfaceof said oblique edge, whereby when said edge is resting upon saidbase, the said head may betilted up and down and moved along-: saidbasein all directions, in a manner so that a variable angle between saidoblique edge and base is" pro- .4 vided to permit said head to impel aball over or through said barrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,144,112 Denny June 22, 1915 1,564,863 Laing Dec, 8, 1925FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,516 Great Britain 1902 231,967Great Britain Apr. 16, 1925 238,958 Great Britain Aug. 13, 1925 336,188Great Britain Oct. 9, 1930 399,962 Great Britain Oct. 19, 1933

